financing

Charter school amendments likely to be stripped

Credit where credit is due, the Governor's education Czar is also unhappy with the House Republican changes to the budget that creates a wild west charter school privatization system in Ohio.

House leaders refuse to say which legislator submitted the budget amendments. However, at least some were made at the request of major Republican donor and leading for-profit charter-school operator David L. Brennan, who runs White Hat Management in Akron.

Sommers told state board members today that school choice creates competition that will improve Ohio's education system. But both charter schools and traditional public schools alike must be accountable for student performance and public financing, and poorly performing schools must be shut down.

He also cited the need for "more transparency about funding for charter schools."

Clearly, pressure from all angles is causing some second thoughts, and hopfully the big loser in all this will be David Brennan and not pubic education and accountability.